Riptide

he
    really likes. I can practically hear him thinking,'I want to scare Rebecca
    shitless, prove to her I'm so bad that when I call her again I
    won't hear any more cockiness from her. No, I'll hear fear in her

voice, helplessness. Now, what can I do to really make this happen?'
    " Adam paused a moment, then said, "And so he decided to
    kill Linda Cartwright and make her into his fictional dog."
    "Yeah "Tommy said, "I think Adam is right. There's nothing but
    control here. Too damned much of it."
    "I need to make some calls," Savich said, but he didn't move, just
    stared down at the note and at what had been Linda Cartwright.
    There was silence in the small, bright kitchen and the harsh
    breathing of six men and two women, one of them drawing hard
    on a pipe that wasn't lit. Then Becca broke free, ran out the back
    door, and fell to her knees, vomiting until her body was jerking and
    heaving and there was nothing more in her belly. Still she crouched
    there, holding her arms around herself, shuddering, wanting to die
    because she'd brought death to Linda Cartwright, just as she had to
    that poor old woman standing outside the Metropolitan Museum,
    just as she'd nearly brought death to the governor of New York.
    She felt him coming up behind her, knew it was Adam.
    "Her face--he obliterated her face, Adam, for a sick joke that
    only he thought was funny. He murdered her and smashed her face
    so--"
    "I know." Adam fell to his knees behind her, pulling her back
    against his chest. "I know."
    She felt him begin to rock her, back and forth. "I know, Becca."
    "I'm responsible for her, Adam. If I hadn't shot him, if I hadn't--"
    Adam pulled her around to face him. He handed her a handkerchief,
    waited for her to wipe her mouth, then said, "Now, you
    will listen up. If you feel any guilt about that poor woman, I'm going
    to deck you. None of this is your fault. He's the evil one. This
    guy will do anything to terrorize you, to hear you whimper, beg,
    plead with him to stop. Anything."

"He's succeeded."
    "Yeah, you've got to stop that as well. You can't let him crawl
    under your skin. That means he wins. That means he's got the control,
    he's got the power. Do you understand me?"
    She pulled away from him and began kneading his arms with
    her hands, not even realizing what she was doing. "It's hard, Adam.
    I know he's evil. I know there must be a reason he's doing all this,
    a reason that makes perfect sense to him, but in my gut, it feels like
    I smashed in that poor woman's face. Oh, God, if I hadn't fired at
    him, hit him--"
    "Stop it," he said and shook her good. "Now, here's the bottom
    line. We're going to leave her just as she is in the kitchen and make
    an anonymous call. No, don't argue." He lightly tapped his fingers
    against her mouth. "Listen, I know this is very hard to do, given the
    fact that we're breaking the law and she's not going to get the attention
    she deserves right away. Even Savich and Sherlock are having
    a real problem with it.
    "Even though they're part of the highest police force in the land,
    they realize that nothing good would be served if the world suddenly
    found out that you're here and you're up to your ears in another
    murder. The cops and the Feds would fight to see who could
    hold you and question you. On the other hand, you'd be protected,
    and that's something, but not enough. All of us agree that you
    would be charged with murder and accessory to murder. It would
    be a nightmare and it would continue even if they ever let you go.
    Why? Because he would still be there, just waiting, and it would
    start all over.
    "So, Savich and Sherlock have agreed to keep our connection under
    wraps for a while. He's getting the woman's phone records right
    now. We'll find out how long he's been here, holding her prisoner.
    We'll find out who he called besides you. All the guys are going over

the house, top to bottom, right now. They're pros. If there's anything
    to find, they'll find it. If there are fingerprints, and I'm willing to bet
    there are, they'll pull those up, too. But it's going to take time because
    we'll have to clean up after ourselves. The last thing we want is to
    have the police notice some stray fingerprint powder. So we can't
    call in her murder for another couple of hours."
    "He knew the phone was tapped."
    "Oh, yes, he knew, and that's why he had the surprise all ready for
    you. He can't be far away now. He's close. Real close. It's possible
    he's watching all of us right